Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $159.00. The stock had previously closed at $148.15, but opened at $144.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Johnson & Johnson shares last traded at $143.57, with a volume of 3,110,293 shares trading hands.

JNJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Johnson & Johnson news, Director Mark A. Weinberger acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $147.22 per share, for a total transaction of $147,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,220. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNJ. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 20,130.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,454,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,832,000 after buying an additional 3,437,397 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 506.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,884,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244,862 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 228.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,389,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,359 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,040,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.12. The company has a market capitalization of $344.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 35.45% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22,438,500 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.78%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.